Medical retrieval devices are often utilized for removing organic material (e.g., blood clots, tissue, and biological concretions such as urinary, biliary, and pancreatic stones) and inorganic material (e.g., components of a medical device or other foreign matter), which may obstruct or otherwise be present within a patient's body cavities. For example, concretions can develop in certain parts of the body, such as in the kidneys, pancreas, ureter, and gallbladder. Minimally invasive medical procedures are used to remove these concretions through natural orifices, or through an incision, such as during a percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNCL) procedure. Other procedures may include endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) which is a procedure for treating the bile and pancreatic ducts of a patient. Further, lithotripsy and ureteroscopy, for example, are used to treat urinary calculi (e.g., kidney stones) in the ureter of a patient.
One problem commonly associated with medical retrieval baskets occurs where the stone or other material is too large to be removed intact from the body tract after it has been captured within the medical retrieval basket. In such cases, medical professionals may attempt to dislodge the stone or other material from the basket. If the stone or material cannot be removed from the basket in this manner, however, a medical professional often must use an emergency rescue handle to attempt to break the stone in the basket. If the stone or material doesn't break, the basket tends to break along its drive wire. The patient may then need to undergo surgery to remove the broken basket.